Improvement in violins



@niet time tant-@frire BAIN BRIDGE BISHOP, OF N RUSSIA, NEW YORK. iLetters .Patent `1Y0. 73,569, dated January 21,' 1868. I I

IMPROVEMENT IN VIOLINS".

'ro ALL WHOMII; MAY coNcEn'N:

Be it known thaf:\I, BAINBRIDGE'BISHOP, of New Russia, in the county ofEssex, and'State of New. York, have invented new und useful Improvementsin Violins, &e.-; and Igdo hereby decla-re Vthat the following is afull, clear, 'and exact description thereof, which will enable thoseskilled in the art to make and use the same, relference'benghad to theaccompanying drawings, forming part of this specification. I

The present invention relates to violins, bass-viols, guitars, and othersimilar musical instruments, anu consists, first, in continuingl thefinger-board over the sound-board, to the foot of the instrument, and inthere fastening one end of the strings, whereby the said finger-,boardis m'ade to support the whole tension of the strings; second, incombination with the above, thc use of ra Vsupplementary bridge, restingupon thelfingerboard, in such amanncr that' the pressure of thestrings'upon the sound-board bridge can be controlled without alteringthe pitch of the strings or the height of the sound-board bridge,thereby giving the strings the pressure on thesound-board bridgerequisite to produce the most perfect tone within the power andcapability of the instrument;` and the sound-board is relieved of allcontact from dead-wood, and thus left freer for vibration,

and consequently to give 4out a fuller and more even tone. In theaccompanying plate of drawings my improvev ments in violins, dto., areillustrated- Figure 1 being a plan or top view of the same.

Figure 2 a section tak'enin the plane of-the line a: a1, iig. 1, and

Figure 3 a detail view of the supplementary bridge.

Similar letters of -reference indicate corresponding parts.

A, in the drawings, represents the body to the violin, to Ivhich B isthe sound-board, C the back-board, and

D tbeAiinger-board; E, the bridge to the sound-board. The finger-board Dis extended over the sound-board, to

the foot or tail, F, of the instrument, where', t'o the thin edge, itvis fastened in any suitable manner. This board D, where the bridgeE islocated, is cnt out along its length, upon both sides of the said bridgeE, leaving an opening, G, ofa width somewhat greater than that embracedby the several-strings, H, to the instrument. These strings H, at oneend, Llare fastened to the ex tended portion of the finger-board, while,at their other ends, they are to be hung as ordinarily in violins. J,the supplementary bridge. This bridge J is located between the extendedportion of the finger-board and the ordinary bridge E, and is so out outupon the two ends, K, asA to fit `over thc two edges of thefinger-board, between the sides of the opening G. By extending thefinger-board over thesound-board, and securing it to the body, as hasbeen above described, it is made to support the whole tension of thestrings; and, by the false or supplementary bridge, the pressure of thestrings can be controlled, by simply sliding it, without altering-thepitch ofthe strings or the height ofthe sound-board' bridge, thusenabling the requisite pressure to be produced upon thc sound-boardbridge for the best tone.

I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patcntl l1. Thesupplementary bridge J, to the extended finger-board D, substantially asand for the purpose specied. f

2. The combination of-the bridge E, supplementary bridge J, andfingerboard and tailpicce, made in one piece, substantially as describedfor the purpose specified.

` BAINBRIDGE BISHOP. Witnesses:

Mines E. BISHOP, CLARENCE Mormons.

